Written Answers

Monday 4 September 2000

Scottish Executive

Dairy Produce

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail the research available to it on the development of edible protein.

Mr John Home Robertson: The Scottish Executive is aware of a substantial volume of research on meat, vegetables and dairy produce. I understand, however, that Mr Hamilton is interested in the use of edible protein in dealing with waste from creameries. The Scottish Executive is not aware of any research on the development of edible protein for this purpose, but whey and other by-products from creameries are already permitted for use as animal feedingstuffs.

Engineering Industry

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-7270 by Henry McLeish on 13 June 2000, what branches of engineering are covered by the 3,300 Modern Apprenticeship training places.

Henry McLeish: The following table illustrates the occupations covered by the Modern Apprenticeship frameworks in the engineering sector.

  


Framework


Occupation




Engineering Construction (Engineering 
Construction Industry Training Board)


Craft
Pipe-fitter
Plater
Welder
Steel Erector
Mechanical fitter
Technician
Instrument and control technician
Electrical maintenance technician
Process controller
Mechanical maintenance technician




Engineering (Engineering and Marine 
Training Authority)


Engineering technician
Plater
Welder
Shipbuilder




Engineering Services (Engineering 
Services Training Trust Ltd)


Refrigeration engineer
Heating and ventilation engineer
Central heating engineer
Service and maintenance engineer
Ducting engineer
Air conditioning engineer

Engineering Industry

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-7270 by Henry McLeish on 13 June 2000, which career service companies are involved in the project work on tackling stereotype images with primary six and seven children.

Henry McLeish: Lanarkshire Careers Service and Tayside Careers Ltd.

Environment

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of Scottish groundwater supplies are at risk of contamination from sheep dip and pesticide disposal and where the principal and minimal areas of risk are.

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what areas of Scotland are not at risk of groundwater contamination from sheep dip and pesticide disposal and why the risk is greater in some areas than in others.

Sarah Boyack: Spent sheep dip and pesticides are potentially dangerous, even at very low concentrations. Groundwater, once polluted, can remain contaminated for many years. Groundwater is particularly at risk from illegal disposal and poor operational controls during sheep dipping and the handling of pesticides. The information on which to base an estimate of the percentage of groundwater supplies at risk from such activities is not held centrally. However, as groundwater is ubiquitous and there are few areas of Scotland where neither sheep farming nor arable farming is practised, there is potentially a risk that these dangerous chemicals could enter groundwater in most areas if adequate precautions are not taken.

  The disposal of these and other waste agrochemicals to land requires an authorisation to be sought from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency under the Groundwater Regulations 1998. This process is designed to ensure that suitable areas of land are selected to receive waste sheep dip and agrochemicals. Provided an authorisation is granted and farmers comply with the conditions specified therein, the risk to groundwater should be minimal.

European Funding

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the next European Union Structural Fund programme can be used to provide funding for investment in information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure, equipment and initiatives in Scotland and, if so, how will it ensure that each of the programme areas invests in ICT.

Mr Jack McConnell: Generally, investment in information and communication technology is a matter for the private sector in line with regulatory and commercial considerations.

  However, the Special Transitional Programme for the Highlands & Islands includes provision for limited support to ICT development, including infrastructure in remote areas, where the needs of the area cannot be met by commercial interests alone. The programme sets specific targets for all activities and the Programme Monitoring Committee is charged with ensuring that these are met.

  Promoting ICT development is also embedded in the plans for the three Objective 2 areas in terms of business development and innovation, particularly focused on schemes of support for SMEs. Support will also be available for the development of community ICT provisions. Direct costs of infrastructure development will not be met through the Objective 2 programmes.

  The Scottish Objective 3 Operational Programme includes as a horizontal theme across all of its vertical priorities the promotion and development of the information society, particularly in the context of access to the labour market and information and communications technology skills in the workforce.

Finance

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive from which departmental budget end-of-year balances the extra £12 million for rough sleeping and homelessness initiatives announced by the Minister for Communities on 1 June 2000 came.

Mr Jack McConnell: Of the extra £12 million for rough sleeping and homelessness initiatives, £8 million came from the end-year flexibility central reserve and the remaining £4 million from the additional money allocated to Scottish Assigned Budget as a consequence of the UK Budget announced in March 2000.

Finance

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what resources will be allocated to rough sleeping as a result of the £34 million central reserve spending on health-related initiatives announced on 4 July 2000 and whether any such resources will be additional to, or part of, the extra £12 million funding for rough sleeping and homelessness initiatives announced on 1 June 2000.

Mr Jack McConnell: A sum of £8 million from the central reserve was allocated to rough sleeping and homelessness initiatives and was included in the £12 million announced on 1 June. None of this money comes from the £34 million which was the subject of an announcement on 4 July 2000. Some £10 million was announced on 4 July to assist long-term care of the elderly. The remaining amount will go into health related spending, but no firm decisions have yet been made on this.

Gaelic

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether courses at Sabhal Mor Ostaig will be available to those wishing to take out Individual Learning Accounts.

Henry McLeish: If Sabhal Mor Ostaig is a registered Individual Learning Account (ILA) provider then any courses provided which fall within the widely drawn definition of eligible learning announced on 10 May will be available to ILA members.

Gaelic

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Sabhal Mor Ostaig will be registered as a training provider for the purpose of Individual Learning Accounts.

Henry McLeish: It is for each learning provider to make their own decision about whether to register as a provider for the purpose of Individual Learning Accounts.

Gaelic

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will encourage any of its staff who wish to attend courses at Sabhal Mor Ostaig to do so and whether it will fund the cost of such attendance where such attendance is of assistance or benefit to such staff in the performance of their duties.

Mr Jack McConnell: The Scottish Executive recognises that lifelong learning, including higher and further education, can play an important part in developing the knowledge, skills and competencies of staff and will assist members of staff, within available resources, to undertake studies and courses that will benefit their career and personal development and contribute to the effectiveness of their performance. Any applications for assistance with funding of courses at Sabhal Mor Ostaig would be considered on that basis.

Gaelic

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the additional funds being made available for training as part of the tourism budget will be available to persons wishing to pursue courses at Sabhal Mor Ostaig, in particular Gaelic classes.

Henry McLeish: No. This funding is to promote the take-up of 1,000 Modern Apprenticeships and 5,000 Individual Learning Accounts in the industry. MAs and ILAs are delivered primarily in the workplace.

Gaelic

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people attended education institutions for the purposes of obtaining a qualification as teachers of Gaelic or through the medium of Gaelic at primary and secondary level in each of the last five years and whether there is currently a shortage of fully qualified Gaelic teachers.

Mr Alasdair Morrison: The numbers graduating from the Teacher Education Institutions who have received some training for Gaelic-medium education in primary schools and the numbers trained to be specialist Gaelic teachers in secondary schools are estimated as follows:

  





1995-96


1996-97


1997-98


1998-99


1999-2000




Primary


8


18


11


15


14




Secondary


4


5


5


5


4




  The Executive is funding courses to equip teachers to deliver their specialist subject through the medium of Gaelic. Nine teachers attended the course in 1999.

  Education authorities have indicated that they would wish to employ more teachers for Gaelic-medium education.

Gaelic

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many primary and secondary teachers (a) of Gaelic and (b) through the medium of Gaelic there are in each local authority area and how many additional teachers will be required in each category in each local authority area over the next 10 years.

Mr Alasdair Morrison: In September 1998 there were an estimated 195 full-time equivalent secondary school teachers who regarded Gaelic as their main subject qualification. Primary school teachers are not categorised by subject.

  The Leirsinn survey, The Availability of Gaelic-speaking Teachers (summer 1997) found that in 1997 there were 101 primary school teachers in Gaelic-medium education, 25 secondary school teachers, and 38 supply teachers (21 primary and 17 secondary).

  No estimates of requirements for teachers of Gaelic have been made centrally. Education authorities have estimated the numbers of additional teachers, including replacements, for Gaelic-medium education required over the next seven years. These estimates amount to:

  Primary 150

  Secondary 70

  Two thirds of the notified demand was from the Highland Council and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar.

Gaelic

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to increase the number of Gaelic teachers by 140 over a seven-year period and what has been the outcome of any such steps to date.

Mr Alasdair Morrison: The Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) is responsible for setting student intake levels to courses of initial teacher education (ITE). Each year the Executive provides guidance to SHEFC on ITE, setting out our strategic objectives for teacher education and supply. We have indicated to SHEFC that the supply of teachers able to teach in Gaelic medium education is a priority and have asked SHEFC to assist in promoting provision in this area. To help SHEFC consider how the need for Gaelic medium teachers might be met, the Executive has asked local authorities to identify their requirements. Last year authorities indicated a need for around 150 newly trained teachers for primary Gaelic medium over the next seven years and around 70 for secondary Gaelic medium over the same period. We are at the moment collecting updated information from authorities about their requirements in order that this can be provided in guidance to SHEFC for session 2001-02. It will be for SHEFC to consider how these future requirements for newly trained teachers can be met.

  Comunn na Gaidhlig with funding from the Executive is conducting a publicity campaign, including leaflets, a video and a Gaelic careers conference, to attract potential recruits into Gaelic medium teaching; it has also discussed with the Teacher Education Institutions their admissions policies.

Health

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-8351 by Susan Deacon on 13 July 2000, who the members of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation are.

Susan Deacon: As at its meeting in January 2000, the membership of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) was:

  Professor Michael Langman (Acting Chairman), Professor of Medicine, University of Birmingham

  Professor Roy Anderson, Professor of Infectious Disease and Epidemiology, University of Oxford

  Dr Robert Aston, Consultant in Communicable Disease Control/Immunisation Co-ordinator, Wigan and Bolton Health Authority

  Dr Barbara Bannister, Infectious Disease Physician/Consultant in Communicable Disease Control, Coppett’s Wood Hospital (Royal Free Hospital)

  Professor Keith Cartwright, Microbiologist, Director, Gloucester Public Health Laboratory

  Dr Stephen Conway, Consultant in Paediatric Infectious Diseases, Leeds

  Ms Gillian Creighton, Nurse, Neighbourhood Manager, Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow Health Authority

  Dr David Goldblatt, Paediatric Immunologist, Senior Lecturer/Honorary Consultant, Institute of Child Health

  Dr David Joynson, Medical Microbiologist, Director, Swansea Public Health Laboratory

  Dr Colin Kennedy, Paediatric Neurologist, Southampton University Hospital

  Dr Karl Nicholson, Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Infectious Diseases, Leicester University and Leicester Royal Infirmary

  Dr Marie Ogilvie, Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Medical Virology, Edinburgh University Medical School

  Professor Lewis Ritchie, General Practitioner and Professor of General Practice, Aberdeen University

  Dr Richard Smithson, Consultant in Communicable Disease Control/Immunisation Co-ordinator, Western Health and Social Services Board

  Dr Diana Walford, Director, Public Health Laboratory Service

  Dr Chris Bartlett, Director, Public Health Laboratory Service Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre

  Dr Ian Jones, Director, Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health

  Professor George Griffin, Chairman, Medical Research Council Committee on Development of Vaccines and Immunological Practices

  Dr Geoffrey Schild, Director, National Institute of Biological Standards and Control

  A number of members have come to the end of their terms of appointment and any changes to the membership will be announced in the near future.

Health

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-5615 by Susan Deacon on 25 May 2000, whether, if as a consequence of the review being undertaken a residue of organs is retained due to their particular and continuing educational value, the parents of the children from whom those organs were removed will be informed of their retention.

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-5615 by Susan Deacon on 25 May 2000, how many organs are retained at Yorkhill Children’s Hospital.

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-5615 by Susan Deacon on 25 May 2000, over what period of time the organs retained by Yorkhill Children’s Hospital were accumulated.

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what legislation it intends to propose to ensure that hospitals are not able to remove and retain organs from dead children for the purposes of research without prior parental consent.

Susan Deacon: The removal and retention of organs and tissues from children who died in Yorkhill Hospital has raised questions which are both complex and distressing. I recently met senior representatives of the Yorkhill NHS Trust who are currently checking and validating information on retained organs and tissue.

  For the parents concerned, the matter is extremely distressing and our overwhelming concerns must be for them. I shall be meeting bereaved parents and their representatives this week. All staff concerned now recognise that previous procedures in relation to the removal and retention of organs were unsatisfactory and that widespread grief and distress resulted. Following these meetings, I expect to make a further announcement about the steps to be taken to support parents and address their concerns.

Joint Ministerial Committees

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all the Joint Ministerial Committees which have been set up with UK Government Departments, how many times they have met so far and what they have achieved.

Donald Dewar: There are Joint Ministerial Committees on three subjects: poverty and the knowledge economy, which have met twice, and health, which has met three times. Each committee has provided a useful forum for the exchange of information, ideas and best practice on issues of mutual concern.

Justice

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the number of pilot schemes under the Diversion from Prosecution to Social Work and other Service Agencies pilot programme will be increased.

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether domestic abuse offenders, sex offenders and child abusers will continue to be considered appropriate referrals for diversion from prosecution.

Mr Jim Wallace: I refer Mr Paterson to the answer I gave to question S1W-8043 on 31 August 2000.

Local Government Finance

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what primary and secondary indicators are taken account of in local authority funding settlements.

Mr Jack McConnell: The information requested is given in Grant Aided Expenditure 2000-01 , a copy of which is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 7912).

Miners

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make any representations with the aim of ensuring that Scottish miners and Scottish mining communities will benefit from surpluses drawn from the Mineworkers Pension Scheme.

Henry McLeish: The Mineworker’s Pension Scheme is a reserved matter.

  The Department for Trade and Industry, as guarantor, receives half of any valuation surplus in the scheme. In return, the DTI guarantees that pensions will always rise in line with inflation and will never fall in cash terms. As a result of the most recent MPS valuation, 27,000 or so members resident in Scotland will enjoy a pension increase of approximately 9% above and beyond inflation.

  I understand that the DTI has no statutory powers to hypothecate its coal pension receipts for the purposes of regenerating former mining areas. However, the Scottish Executive is committed to regeneration and in addition to the programmes tackling the problems of deprived areas and to promote social inclusion, the Coalfields Regeneration Trust in Scotland has been allocated £4.5 million over three years.

Ministerial Costs

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost is of each Scottish Executive Minister’s private office since July 1999, broken down by category of expenditure where possible.

Donald Dewar: The estimated staff costs of ministerial private offices for the period July 99-June 2000 are as follows:

  


Ministerial Team
(No. of Ministers) 


Private Office Staff 
Costs




Children and Education (3)


£128,000




Communities (3)


£128,000




Enterprise and Lifelong Learning 
(3)


£165,000




First Minister (1)


£308,000




Finance (1)


£72,000




Health and Community Care (2)


£103,000




Justice (2)


£122,000




Parliament (2)


£145,000




Rural Affairs (2)


£82,000




Transport and Environment (1)


£65,000




Total


£1,318,000




  Other running costs for this period cannot be broken down by individual office. The estimated total for other costs for this period is £402,000.

  Note: The costs are based around ministerial teams rather than individual Ministers. Ministerial salaries and associated costs are not included. "Other running costs" includes for example: travel and subsistence for private office staff, administration, office equipment, hire of halls, stationery, periodicals.

NHS Modernisation

Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will include patients’ representatives as members of the proposed NHS Modernisation Board.

Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will appoint members to the proposed NHS Modernisation Board.

Susan Deacon: I refer to the reply given to question S1W-6672 on 31 August 2000.

Pig Industry

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it intends to take to prevent or combat any occurrence of swine fever in the Scottish pig farming industry.

Ross Finnie: Scottish Ministers have wide powers of entry, inspection, control of movement and slaughter with associated compensation - all of which can be used at an early stage to prevent the disease taking a hold in Scotland.

  As regards the current outbreak in England, the reassessment by the Standing Veterinary Committee of the situation in the UK is reassuring. Accordingly the danger of spread to Scottish pig producers is now very much contained and we can rely on the existing statutory controls.

  These arrangements would of course be reviewed in the event of any further outbreak to protect the Scottish herd from infection.

Prison Service

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are in place to deal with the consequences of prison related transmission of hepatitis C.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Mr Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  Those prisoners identified as suffering from hepatitis C infection are cared for by prison health care staff, in partnership with external health specialists as appropriate.

Prison Service

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what preventative measures are in place to alleviate the spread of hepatitis C in prisons.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Mr Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  The availability of health education and sterilising tablets help to prevent the transmission of blood borne viral infections within Scottish prisons.

Prison Service

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether a study is taking place into the incidence of new cases of hepatitis C in short-term and remand prisons.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Mr Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  A study to look at the incidence of hepatitis C within such groups would be likely to be of limited value given the long incubation period for hepatitis C infection. A hepatitis C incidence and prevalence study is, however, currently underway among long-term prisoners at HM Prison, Shotts.

Rail Network

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to promote the opening of a railway station at Edinburgh Park and what funding it will make available to facilitate this.

Sarah Boyack: The Edinburgh Park railway station is an integral part of the City of Edinburgh Rapid Transport (CERT) project which is entirely a matter for the City of Edinburgh Council. The Scottish Executive is making available from the previous Transport Challenge Fund competition additional capital allocations totalling £15 million to assist the council with this project.

Rail Network

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in the light of the £60 billion earmarked for railways in the recent announcement about transport funding, it will request funding for the reinstatement of the Borders Railway from Edinburgh to Carlisle in the directions and guidance to be issued to the Strategic Rail Authority.

Sarah Boyack: Scottish Borders Council has submitted an application to the third round of the Public Transport Fund for the cost of securing the necessary permissions for reinstating the railway between Edinburgh and the Central Borders. I will consider that carefully alongside other applications to the fund. Thereafter the promoters of the railway would be able to seek additional public and private funding from various sources for the capital costs of the project itself. The Scottish Borders Railway Feasibility Study, funded by the Executive and other key stakeholders in the project, provides a wealth of information to underpin any such application.

  We will shortly be consulting on strategic priorities for Scotland’s railways as part of the process of developing directions and guidance to the Strategic Rail Authority on the franchise for passenger rail services that start and end in Scotland. During this process we will give consideration to a wide range of issues, including proposals for additions to the passenger rail network such as the reinstatement of the Borders railway.

Rail Network

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to support and promote light rail in Scotland.

Sarah Boyack: I refer Mr MacAskill to my answer to question S1W-3450 on 7 February 2000.

Rail Network

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what statutory, environmental and social obligations Railtrack or its contractors First Engineering must meet in tree felling and in the management of lineside vegetation and railway corridors.

Sarah Boyack: I understand that Railtrack is committed under its Environmental Policy to comply with legal standards as the minimum and to apply a consistent set of principles for the stewardship of protected habitats under the company’s care. This includes compliance with the relevant legislation such as Tree Preservation Orders and protection of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). I also understand that Railtrack is in regular contact with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Scottish Natural Heritage and the water authorities concerning agreed sensitive areas where the types of herbicides used by their contractors in the management of lineside vegetation are restricted near watercourses, near water abstraction points and SSSIs.

Rail Network

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Railtrack or its contractors First Engineering have any obligations to consult or inform local residents of tree felling as part of the management of lineside vegetation and railway corridors.

Sarah Boyack: At all times, Railtrack must ensure safety and efficiency on the railway network by maintaining the infrastructure. This includes keeping vegetation clear of track, signals, overhead cables and train movements. Neither Railtrack nor their contractors are statutorily obliged to inform residents of this type of work.

Roads

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-8807 by Sarah Boyack on 10 August 2000, whether it will calculate an estimate of the capital value of the non-trunk road networks in Scotland, both in aggregate and by road classification.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive has no plans to do so.

Roads

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost is of the works to the A95 trunk road through Cromdale to improve drainage footways, kerbing, road lighting and the road alignment at the bridge, together with traffic calming and village gateways scheduled for the next three years, what consultation has been or will be carried out in connection with the detail of this work and within what timescale each part of the work will be completed.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive has invested approximately £149,000 as part of Phase 1 of the improvement works on the A95 trunk road within Cromdale. These works were completed in 1999. Phase 2 of the improvement works will provide additional footways and new street lighting at an estimated cost of £150,000. These works will be progressed within financial year 2001-02. In addition, a refurbishment or replacement scheme for the footbridge in this area is currently under consideration. The estimated costs involved are £23,000 and £32,000 respectively. The total estimated investment for all these works is £331,000.

  The Cromdale Community Council was consulted regarding Phase 1 of the improvement works within Cromdale. They will also be consulted at the appropriate time regarding Phase 2 of these works.

Roads

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when Mouchel (Scotland) Ltd were first instructed to produce a feasibility report on the A95 to identify options or recommendations and provide estimated costs for the improvement of the junction of the A95 and B9153; whether the feasibility report has yet been completed; if not, when it is expected; whether the feasibility report will be made publicly available, in particular to the local communities and their representatives, and, if the report makes recommendations, by what date it is expected that they will be implemented.

Sarah Boyack: Mouchel Scotland Ltd were instructed to produce a feasibility report for the A95/B9153 Kinveachy junction on 31 March 2000. The initial feasibility report was submitted to the Scottish Executive for consideration on 18 May 2000. A supplementary report was then provided on 7 July 2000. These reports were not commissioned for external publication. All the recommendations made have been considered and the scheme design is underway. The Highland Council and the local community will be consulted during the scheme design process.

  It is anticipated that implementation of the works, at an estimated cost of £345,000, will commence in October and should be completed by January 2001.

Roads

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has specific proposals with regard to provision of additional lay-bys on the A95, what consultation there will be in respect of the location and size of any such lay-bys and over what timescale any such additional lay-bys will be completed.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive has no specific proposals to construct additional lay-bys on the A95 trunk road within the current financial year.

  However, subject to competing priorities, the Scottish Executive will commission Mouchel Scotland Ltd to carry out a study prior to the end of this financial year. The Highland and Moray Councils, together with the local Community Councils, will be consulted prior to finalisation of any work being implemented. This consultation exercise will determine the appropriate size and location of the lay-bys.

Roads

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the review of an earlier study on the replacement of the Advie Bridge on the A95 will be completed this year, when it is anticipated that the design and construction of a scheme to replace the bridge can proceed to implementation and when any such scheme will be completed.

Sarah Boyack: Following completion of the review of earlier studies, it was decided that upgrading of the existing bridge represented the most practicable and cost-effective solution. This work is being undertaken in two phases; the first, to strengthen the bridge to meet current loading requirements was completed recently. The second phase, currently under design, involves widening the bridge to enable it to carry two lanes of traffic and the removal of the traffic signals, and will be carried out next financial year depending on the availability of funding.

Roads

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made with regard to statutory procedures in relation to the A95 Gaich to Graggan scheme, when it is expected that the proposed scheme can be constructed and what public consultation on the scheme will be undertaken at a local level.

Sarah Boyack: All work, which included statutory procedures for this particular scheme, ceased in September 1998. The Scottish Executive has no current proposals to progress this scheme. The local community would be consulted if this scheme were to be progressed.

Roads

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much the planned improvements to the A95 between Granish and Keith will cost in total and how much the (a) A95 Cromdale scheme, (b) A95 Kinveachy scheme, (c) lay-by provisions, (d) A95 Advie Bridge scheme and (e) A95 Gaich to Craggan scheme will cost (i) in total and (ii) in each of the next four financial years.

Sarah Boyack: The planned improvements to the A95 trunk road between Granish and Keith will cost £435,000 this financial year and £425,000 next financial year, making a total of £860,000.

  The scheme specific costs are as follows:

  


Scheme Specific Details


2000-01


2001-02


Total




(a) Cromdale Phase II


£0


£150,000


£150,000




(b) Kinveachy Junction


£345,000


£0


£345,000




(c) Lay-by Provision


£0


£25,000


£25,000




(d) Advie Bridge


£90,000


£250,000


£340,000




(e) Gaich to Craggan


£0


£0


£0




Total


£435,000


£425,000


£860,000




  There is no planned expenditure for these schemes in years 2002-03 and 2003-04.

Skye Bridge

Mr John Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the subsidy on concessionary tickets for the Skye Bridge is paid following the sale of the tickets or only after each individual ticket is used.

Sarah Boyack: Payment is made only for discount tickets actually used.

Smoking

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Voluntary Charter on Smoking in Public Places will improve the current situation where 92% of public houses in areas of deprivation do not have smoking policies in place to protect the health of staff and customers.

Susan Deacon: I refer Mr Gibson to the answer to question S1W-8262 on 10 July 2000.

Student Finance

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what financial support is available to full-time higher education students who become incapacitated for both study and work through illness and are unable to resume studying at the start of the next academic year.

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what financial support is available to pregnant students who become incapacitated for both study and work in the time leading up to the birth.

Nicol Stephen: The Education (Scotland) Act 1980 permits student support payments to be made only in respect of persons attending courses of education. Therefore to be eligible for support from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland, students must be registered as attending a course of higher education. Students who are only temporarily absent from their courses because they are too ill to attend or for some other reason as agreed with the academic authorities, including pregnancy or caring for a sick relative, can continue to receive support through the student support system. This includes Access Funds and the Hardship Loan as appropriate. Support can be continued in such cases until the student is able to resume or, in the case of a sick student, until they have been absent for 28 weeks at which time sick students become eligible for income support.

  The situation is different where a student temporarily withdraws from the course for whatever reason. In these circumstances the student has taken a decision to temporarily cease his or her studies. As he or she is no longer a registered student in attendance on a course, support under the student support arrangements cannot continue.

  Students who have to interrupt their studies either because of illness or caring duties are eligible to claim Job Seekers’ Allowance from the date of recovery from illness or from the date the caring responsibility ends.

  In determining whether student support can continue, the Awards Agency considers each case individually.

Student Finance

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures are in place to ensure that doctors, student associations and other support workers who deal with students who have had to take a break from full-time study are fully aware of such students’ entitlement to financial support and the method for claiming such support.

Nicol Stephen: Representatives from the Students Awards Agency for Scotland meet with members of the higher education sector on a regular basis. Issues such as this have been raised during these discussions.

  Students are responsible for informing the agency of any change in their circumstances. This responsibility is highlighted in the agency’s annual booklet Student Support in Scotland - A Guide for Undergraduate Students. It is also included in the Letters of Award which are issued to all students supported by the agency. Once advised of change, the agency will explain to the student the consequences for their entitlement to support.

  In order to make the position as clear as possible for students and their representatives from next year, the booklet Student Support in Scotland - A Guide for Undergraduate Students will provide a detailed explanation of the support available to those who have to take a break from full-time study.

Transport

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of total transport expenditure on capital grants and loans in (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01 and (c) 2001-02 was or will be spent in the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive area, specified in both monetary and percentage terms.

Sarah Boyack: The only discrete transport allocations (capital grants and loans) are those made available from the Public Transport Fund and ongoing commitments from the previous Government’s Transport Challenge Fund. The table below shows the total awards announced for the years in question to authorities in the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive area, and the percentage of those allocations of the total available from the fund. No percentage is shown for 2001-02 since the allocations shown for this year relate only to those awards announced in earlier years that run into 2001-02. Bids to the next round of the Public Transport Fund for projects commencing in 2001-02 are currently being considered and announcements on successful projects will be made in due course.

  


Public Transport Fund and Transport 
Challenge Fund Projects in SPT Area


Allocations




Authority


Project


1999-2000
£ million


2000-01
£ million


2001-02
£ million




East Renfrewshire


Glasgow Southern Orbital


£1.000


£0.000


£0.000




South Lanarkshire


Garrion Bridge


£1.150


£0.850


£0.000




SPTA


Larkhall - Milngavie


£4.200


£0.000


£0.000




Glasgow City


Bailleston to Faifley Bus Priority


£1.300


£2.200


£1.250




SPTA


Partick Interchange


£2.000


£1.500


£0.000




West Dunbartonshire


Bailleston to Faifley Bus Priority


£0.750


£0.300


£0.250




East Ayrshire


Kilmarnock and Cumnock Bus Stations


£0.000


£0.590


£0.000




East Renfrewshire


Disabled Access to Railway Stations


£0.000


£0.467


£0.000




Glasgow City


Quality Bus Corridors**


£0.000


£1.000


£2.800




North Lanarkshire


Gartcosh Interchange


£0.000


£1.260


£0.000




Renfrewshire


Integrated Transport Improvements 



£0.000


£0.650


£0.000




South Ayrshire


Ayr Bus Priority


£0.000


£0.750


£1.100




SPTA


Improved Rolling Stock


£0.000


£1.400


£0.000




Total SPT Area





£10.400


£10.967


£5.400




Total Allocated 


£30.000


£30.000


£30.000




% of Total Allocated in the SPT Area


35%


37%

Transport

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what matching funding has been sought from private investors for the City of Edinburgh Rapid Transit scheme.

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the amount is of proposed future private investment in the City of Edinburgh Rapid Transit scheme.

Sarah Boyack: When the application for Transport Challenge Fund support was submitted to the Scottish Office in June 1996, the council envisaged that the private sector contribution would be £28.5 million. The precise amount of private sector investment in any contract agreed is a matter for City of Edinburgh Council.

Transport

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what contribution is being made by First Group to the City of Edinburgh Rapid Transit scheme.

Sarah Boyack: The amount of any financial contribution by private sector partners towards the development of City of Edinburgh Rapid Transit Scheme is a matter for the City of Edinburgh Council.

Transport

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive under what expenditure headings public funding has been made available to the City of Edinburgh Rapid Transit scheme.

Sarah Boyack: Funding for the City of Edinburgh Rapid Transit Scheme has been made available from the Transport Challenge Fund. The resources from this fund form part of the local authority non-housing capital allocation provision. The council has therefore been issued with consent under section 94 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.

Transport

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will insist on a deadline by which the City of Edinburgh Rapid Transit scheme must be operative as a condition of the payment of the public funds already committed or of any future funds to be made available.

Sarah Boyack: No. The implementation of the project is a matter for City of Edinburgh Council.

Transport

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken to ensure adequate public transport links to the Waterfront development at Granton.

Sarah Boyack: This is a matter for the City of Edinburgh Council. The Scottish Executive is represented alongside the City of Edinburgh Council and Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothians on the Edinburgh Waterfront Monitoring Group. This group has identified traffic and transport issues as key aspects of the comprehensive area redevelopment proposals.